STAFF at a Haringey-based youth advice centre have been praised for "going the extra mile" to help the young people who come to them for help.

Haringey Connexions Drop-in Service, which offers guidance on careers, money matters, relationships and sexual health, was inspected by Youth Mark inspectors and awarded a Silver award.

Youth Mark is the quality award for organisations in London providing services for young people and is determined by a team of fully-trained youth inspectors.

After spending time interviewing 25 young people, the team found there was overwhelming praise for staff particularly the service's Personal Advisers (PAs).

The feedback was that PAs always went the "extra mile" to improve the lives of young people and their knowledge of specialist organisations they could be referred to for further help with personal matters.

Connexions staff were rated excellent for following up referrals to ensure the young people were getting the right help and their needs have been addressed.

Louise Jones, head of integrated youth support services in Haringey, said: "Our thanks go to the four assessors for their work. It will prove very useful in helping us to develop further our drop-in centre service for young people in Haringey."

She added: "The Youth Mark award has particular meaning to Connexions as the whole assessment process is undertaken by young people."

A "faultless" feature of the service was the dedication to diversity and representation from all of Haringey's cultural communities.

Many of the staff are bilingual which assessors found was an excellent benefit as young people with language barriers would have someone they could confide in and relate to with ease.

The assessors recommended that Connexions focus on promoting its work more widely and hosting annual celebrations for both staff and young people.